not out of the woods yet?!.....Alex Trebek resumes chemotherapy....

[NewtonMP2100]

....he was overly optimistic when he said things were going well....he has resumed chemotherapy....his 'numbers' have gone 'south' so not a good thing....


Alex Trebek Has Pancreatic Cancer Setback, Needs More Chemo

“Jeopardy!” host says his numbers “went south” after finishing his first round and immunotherapy didn’t work.

....Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek revealed Tuesday that he must undergo more chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer because the progress he made after the first round was short-lived.

In a video message and an interview on Good Morning America, the 79-year-old said that his early treatment was so successful, he thought he was done with grueling chemo sessions.

“That was a bit premature and certainly over-optimistic,” he said in the video.

Doctors started him on a course of immunotherapy, but “that didn’t go very well,” he said. “My numbers went south—dramatically and quickly.”

Trebek was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, the most advanced kind, in March. The prognosis for the disease is grim: Just 3 percent of patients survive for five years or longer.

When Trebek announced his diagnosis six months ago, he said he was determined to fight it. And he sounded a hopeful note again Tuesday as he disclosed he is back for more chemo.

“Hey, they worked very well the first time so we’re expecting good results again,” he told his fans. “But please keep me in your good thoughts and prayers.”

In his GMA interview, Trebek said he’s been battling depression and would get teary-eyed while filming the 35th season of Jeopardy! But, he said, he is not afraid of dying.

“I realize that there is an end in sight for me, just as there is for everyone else. One line that I have used with our staff in recent weeks and months is that when I do pass on, one thing they will not say at my funeral is, ‘Oh, he was taken from us too soon,’” Trebek said.

“The thought of passing on doesn’t frighten me, it doesn’t. Other things do, the affect it will have on my loved ones... it makes me sad. But the thought of myself moving on, hey folks, it comes with the territory.”


hope things get better for him........?!

[cbelt3]

Prognoses for $1,000 please, Alex....
All the best to a gentleman whose program still appeals to the informed audience instead of pandering to the Hoi Polloi.

[mattkime]

That makes me worry. I really do hope he beats the odds but I've known a couple of people who maintained their optimism regarding beating cancer right up until it took their life. Perhaps thats not so bad.

[Ombligo]

Well, that sucks.

[Acer]

I'll be the downer, but something as nasty as late-stage aggressive cancer, you kinda got one shot at it.

[Paul F.]

"The prognosis for the disease is grim: Just 3 percent of patients survive for five years or longer. "

The odds have almost doubled since a few years ago, then... You don't survive advanced pancreatic cancer.

[rz]

I've had two friends with cancer who went from "Wow! I'm pretty much cancer free now!" to "It's back worse than before" in a short period of time.

One was stomach cancer... he tried experimental treatments overseas, and they seemed promising at first. Within a couple of months, it was back worse than before and he passed away within a month or two.

The other is tongue/throat cancer. He responded very well at first, but then it came back really bad. He's been fighting it for about 4 years now, but he's not likely to survive much longer. He's been on medical leave for almost 2 years, and his wife says he's pretty much wasting away. She thought last year would be his last Christmas, but so far he's still here.

Here's hoping Alex can beat the odds.

[Ombligo]

I found out today that a student's mother has been diagnosed with cancer. She fought through stage 4 earlier, but it has returned.

I hope I never understand or accept the pain that child and his family must be feeling.

[Sarcany]

This is actually a well-known phenomenon with chemo.

A few resistant cells survive and the cancer comes back ("recurrence"), often worse the second time around.

IMHO, they do not stress this enough to cancer patients: It's not just some cancers, but most do come back. It may be months or it may be years later. You have to be on guard for the rest of your life. You hope that you're cured, but you also hope that it just takes so long that when it comes back you will already have lived most/all of your life.

They often provide "adjuvant" chemo after the initial treatment in the hope that a second round will catch the stray cells that were resistant the first time. (Adjuvant therapy just means that it's not the primary therapy, so radiation, chemo or other stuff may come before or after whatever they do to specifically target the cancer. (In a surgery+chemo combo the chemo would be adjuvant, and in a chemo+chemo combo one of the chemo treatments would be adjuvant.)